An autistic paralympic swimmer claimed he was "maliciously groomed" by decorated swimmer Robert Griswold and then raped and mentally abused for a year, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court for Colorado Friday.
The 63-page lawsuit alleged that Griswold, a Paralympic gold medalist, sexually assaulted now-19 year-old Parker Egbert while the two competed for the United States during the Tokyo Paralympics in Aug. 2021. The lawsuit claimed Griswold groomed Egbert, who is intellectually impaired, and referred to him his "little buddy."
The lawsuit also alleged that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the United States Center for SafeSport covered up the abuse because Griswold is a champion swimmer whose family is heavily involved in the swimming world.
On Aug. 23, Griswold was issued a temporarily suspension by the U.S. Center for Safesport due to "allegations of misconduct." Safesport keeps a public disciplinary database designed to inform people about restrictions and pending investigations.
The lawsuit alleged that the USOPC appointed Griswold as Egbert’s supervisor even though he had no qualifications and despite the fact that the two were “peer team members.”
Griswold has cerebral palsy and won two gold medals in the 2020 Paralympic Games, held in 2021 after it was postponed due to the pandemic, breaking a world record.
For Egbert, who didn't learn to talk until he was 6, the Paralympics was a dream come true, according to the lawsuit. His mother, Laura, put him in a pool at the age of 12, where he excelled and eventually became a national Paralympic champion.
The lawsuit claimed that, although USOPC and SafeSport knew of reports that Griswold sexually assaulted other teammates, they assigned him and Egbert to the same room in Tokyo without any oversight. They showered together and sat next to each other on the team bus, the complaint said.
SafeSport, which is headquartered in Denver, is an independent non-profit entity charged with addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors and amateur athletes in Olympic sports.
The USOPC is a federally chartered non-profit based in Colorado Springs and is responsible for training, entering and funding U.S teams, including the Olympics and Paralympics.
In December, following the August 2021 Paralympics, the lawsuit said, Egbert won three gold medals and a silver at the U.S. Paralympic Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was then invited by the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center to live and train in Colorado Springs. It was at the OPTC, the lawsuit alleged, that Egbert once again roomed with Griswold and the sexual and verbal abuse got worse.
The lawsuit claimed Griswold kept Egbert terrified by telling him that, if he told anyone about what was happening, the police would get involved.
This summer, Egbert’s parents read a journal entry written by their son called “Spookley and the Hurricane” about a group of friends who bravely overcame a hurricane called “Hurricane Robert” that caused a “terrible mess," the complaint claimed. Their son confessed what happened on Aug. 21, 2022, the lawsuit said.
“Robert Griswold is the devil to me,” Egbert, who has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old, wrote in a letter to the USOPC, the lawsuit said. He told his parents that he is afraid that Griswold would kill him, the lawsuit added.
When contacted by The Denver Gazette, Egbert's lawyers said that Egbert family is not doing interviews. In an email statement, the New York law firm of Salzano, Ettinger, Lambert and Wilson said, "As you can imagine, this ordeal has been extraordinarily difficult for the Egbert family, as well as the other victims and families that have been impacted, so we ask that their privacy be respected."
The U.S. Center for SafeSport told The Denver Gazette that it "does not comment on matters to protect the integrity of the investigative process."
Griswold has not responded to a request for comment and nor did the USOPC.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
